National Defence Army Corps

National Defence Army Corps
National Defence Army Corps
	Regimental war flag presentation to theSerres Division,December 1916, in the presence of the "Triumvirate" of the National Defence government (Prime MinisterEleftherios Venizelos,Lt. GeneralPanagiotis Danglis,AdmiralPavlos Kountouriotis)
Active	1916-1920
Country	Kingdom of Greece
Allegiance	Provisional Government of National Defence
Branch	Hellenic Army
Role	Defend the territorial integrity of Greece.
Headquarters	Thessaloniki
Engagements	World War I Macedonian front Battle of Skra-di-Legen; ;

TheArmy of National Defence(Greek:Στρατός Εθνικής Αμύνης) was the military force of theProvisional Government of National Defence,a pro-Alliedgovernment led byEleftherios VenizelosinThessalonikiin 1916–17, against the royal government ofKing Constantine IinAthens,during the so-calledNational Schism.By the spring of 1917, it comprised threeinfantry divisionsthat formed theNational Defence Army Corps(Σώμα Στρατού Εθνικής Αμύνης) and fought in theMacedonian front.Following the ousting of King Constantine and the reunification of Greece under the leadership of Venizelos in June 1917, the Corps continued as part of the reconstitutedHellenic Armyuntil 1920, when it became theArmy of Thrace.

Background

The question of Greece's participation inWorld War Ihad led to acute political divisions, with the pro-AlliedPrime MinisterEleftherios Venizelosopposed by the pro-GermanKing Constantine I,who favoured neutrality. This led to Venizelos' resignation, and the establishment of a series of royalist governments in Athens. In the meantime, however, the Allies had landed atThessalonikito aidSerbia,and Greece found herself threatened by both the Allies and theCentral Powers.On 5 August 1916^[1],theBulgarian invasion of eastern Macedoniacommenced, facing little resistance, since the Athens government refused to condone any firm action. The surrender of the hard-won territories gained in the recentBalkan Warsled to a military mutiny in Thessaloniki on 17 August. The mutiny, conducted in the name of "National Defence", led by pro-Venizelos officers likeLeonidas Paraskevopoulos,Konstantinos Mazarakis-Ainian,orEpameinondas Zymvrakakis,was supported by the Allied commander-in-chief,Maurice Sarrail,and quickly established control over the city against loyalist officers.

Venizelos himself with his closest aides left Athens on 12 September, initially for his home island ofCrete,and from there viaChiosandLesbosto Thessaloniki, where he arrived on 26 September. There he formed a provisional government under the supreme leadership of atriumviratecomprising himself, GeneralPanagiotis Danglisand AdmiralPavlos Koundouriotis(the "Triumvirate of National Defence", Τριανδρία της Εθνικής Αμύνης). Major GeneralEmmanouil Zymvrakakiswas appointed Minister of Military Affairs of the new government.^[2]

Establishment of the Army of National Defence

As soon as the revolt was successfully established, individual officers from across northern Greece began to flock to Thessaloniki. On 2 September, the "National Defence" received its first substantial reinforcement, as ColonelNikolaos Christodoulouarrived in the city with the remnants of units of theIV Army Corpsthat had refused to surrender to the Bulgarians and instead withdrawn via Kavala andThasos.These were about 2,000 men of the6th Infantry Division,as well as a battalion of the2/21 Cretan Regimentand the bulk of the weapons and equipment of the7th Field Artillery Regiment—the men of the latter had overwhelmingly opted to return to southern Greece, but their equipment had been intercepted by a French warship.^[3]The first unit of the new army was the "I National Defence Battalion" (Α' Τάγμα Εθνικής Αμύνης), which was created from the few men of the 11th Division that joined the coup, and the 1st Company of the29th Infantry RegimentinVeroia,which under its commander, CaptainNeokosmos Grigoriadis,had joined the uprising. Grigoriadis was appointed commander of the battalion, which already on 15 September was posted in the front along theStrymon river.^[4]

The new Provisional Government made the creation of a credible fighting force a priority. Its resources were meagre—some 65 artillery pieces of various origin, and less than 10,000 shells, as well as clothing sufficient for a regiment—and it was heavily dependent both for equipment as well as funds on the Allies. However, it controlledMacedonia,Crete and theAegean islands,and hoped that it would attract volunteers from southern Greece—following pressure by the Allies, the Athens government gave its consent to allow this, provided that they resigned any office first—allowing it to create an army of 80,000–90,000 men.^[5]

These first step entailed the establishment of threeinfantry divisions:

theSerres Division(under Col.Christodoulou) from the forces already available (IV Corps remnants and volunteers),
theCrete Division(under Major GeneralZymvrakakis) on Crete,
theArchipelago Division(under Major GeneralDimitrios Ioannou) in the islands of the Aegean.^[6]

Quickly it became apparent that volunteers would not suffice, and forced conscription and mobilization of the reserves took place in the areas under National Defence control, despite local resistance in places likeChalcidice,where reactions had to be suppressed by force.^[7]

As a higher command, on 13 October the "Macedonia Army Corps" (Σώμα Στρατοῦ Μακεδονίας) under Major GeneralLeonidas Paraskevopouloswas established, giving way on 16 December to the I Corps (Serres and Archipelago Divisions) under Paraskevopoulos and II Corps (Crete, Cyclades, and Thessaloniki Divisions) under Zymvrakakis.^[8]
The Thessaloniki and Cyclades Divisions existed only at the depot level, and eventually were never established due to the lack in equipment and personnel (particularly trained officers and NCOs).^[9]

Combat on the Macedonian Front

Nevertheless, by spring 1917 the National Defence had brought her three divisions to theMacedonian front,and formed the National Defence Army Corps under Zymvrakakis. The victoriousBattle of Skra-di-Legenin May 1917 served as thebaptism of firefor the Army of National Defence. A month later, King Constantine I was forced to abdicate by the Allies, and was succeeded by his second son,Alexander.Venizelos returned to Athens as Prime Minister and virtual dictator.

With Venizelos back in power, the reconstitution of the Hellenic Army began, a long and arduous process. In the meantime, the three extant divisions were employed under Allied command, and were usually combined with other Allied forces. The Greek GHQ planned the creation of three army corps, i.e., the reconstituted I and II Corps, and the "National Defence Army Corps", but delays in the reconstitution of the Greek army meant that Greece could not claim a decisive voice in the conduct of operations; the "National Defence Army Corps" continued to exist, but most Greek divisions continued to serve under Allied commanders for much of the duration of the war.

Operations in Western Thrace

After theArmistice of November 1918,the National Defence Army Corps remained inMacedonia.In early 1919, the Crete and Archipelago divisions were sent to Asia Minor, where theAsia Minor Campaignbegan; the Corps was reinforced with the reconstituted9th Infantry Division.As part of the Allied occupation ofWestern Thrace,which had belonged to Bulgaria following the Balkan Wars, on 16 October 1919 the Corps occupiedXanthi,where theXanthi Divisionwas raised. In May 1920, subsequent to theTreaty of Neuilly-sur-Seine,the Serres Division occupiedKomotiniand the Xanthi Division and 9th Division occupied the modernEvros Prefecture.On 3 June 1920, it was renamed as theArmy of Thrace.

References

^Note: Greece officiallyadoptedtheGregorian calendaron 16 February 1923 (which became 1 March). All dates prior to that, unless specifically denoted, areOld Style.
^Επίτομη ιστορία συμμετοχής στον Α′ Π.Π.,p. 117.
^Επίτομη ιστορία συμμετοχής στον Α′ Π.Π.,p. 103.
^Επίτομη ιστορία συμμετοχής στον Α′ Π.Π.,pp. 108–109.
^Επίτομη ιστορία συμμετοχής στον Α′ Π.Π.,p. 118.
^Επίτομη ιστορία συμμετοχής στον Α′ Π.Π.,pp. 118–120.
^Επίτομη ιστορία συμμετοχής στον Α′ Π.Π.,p. 119.
^Επίτομη ιστορία συμμετοχής στον Α′ Π.Π.,p. 121.
^Επίτομη ιστορία συμμετοχής στον Α′ Π.Π.,pp. 1120–121.

Sources

Επίτομη ιστορία της συμμετοχής του Ελληνικού Στρατού στον Πρώτο Παγκόσμιο Πόλεμο 1914 - 1918[Concise History of the Hellenic Army's Participation in the First World War 1914–1918] (in Greek). Athens: Hellenic Army History Directorate. 1993.

[1] Note: Greece officiallyadoptedtheGregorian calendaron 16 February 1923 (which became 1 March). All dates prior to that, unless specifically denoted, areOld Style.

[FOOTNOTEΕπίτομη_ιστορία_συμμετοχής_στον_Α′_Π.Π.117-2] Επίτομη ιστορία συμμετοχής στον Α′ Π.Π.,p. 117.

[FOOTNOTEΕπίτομη_ιστορία_συμμετοχής_στον_Α′_Π.Π.103-3] Επίτομη ιστορία συμμετοχής στον Α′ Π.Π.,p. 103.

[FOOTNOTEΕπίτομη_ιστορία_συμμετοχής_στον_Α′_Π.Π.108–109-4] Επίτομη ιστορία συμμετοχής στον Α′ Π.Π.,pp. 108–109.

[FOOTNOTEΕπίτομη_ιστορία_συμμετοχής_στον_Α′_Π.Π.118-5] Επίτομη ιστορία συμμετοχής στον Α′ Π.Π.,p. 118.

[FOOTNOTEΕπίτομη_ιστορία_συμμετοχής_στον_Α′_Π.Π.118–120-6] Επίτομη ιστορία συμμετοχής στον Α′ Π.Π.,pp. 118–120.

[FOOTNOTEΕπίτομη_ιστορία_συμμετοχής_στον_Α′_Π.Π.119-7] Επίτομη ιστορία συμμετοχής στον Α′ Π.Π.,p. 119.

[FOOTNOTEΕπίτομη_ιστορία_συμμετοχής_στον_Α′_Π.Π.121-8] Επίτομη ιστορία συμμετοχής στον Α′ Π.Π.,p. 121.

[FOOTNOTEΕπίτομη_ιστορία_συμμετοχής_στον_Α′_Π.Π.1120–121-9] Επίτομη ιστορία συμμετοχής στον Α′ Π.Π.,pp. 1120–121.

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v t e Provisional Government of National Defence
Ideas & Policies	Venizelism Megali Idea Pro-Entente Anti-German sentiment Greece in WWI
People	Triumvirate:Eleftherios Venizelos Panagiotis Danglis Pavlos Kountouriotis Officers:Georgios Kondylis Nikolaos Plastiras Theodoros Pangalos Leonidas Paraskevopoulos Emmanouil Zymvrakakis Alexandros Mazarakis-Ainian Dimitrios Psarros Evripidis Bakirtzis Nikolaos Christodoulou Dimitrios Ioannou Konstantinos Manetas Theodoros Manetas Aristeidis Moraitinis Neokosmos Grigoriadis Napoleon Zervas Ptolemaios Sarigiannis Politicians:Themistoklis Sophoulis Nikolaos Politis Georgios Papandreou Leonidas Embirikos Andreas Michalakopoulos Konstantinos Angelakis Alexandros Zannas
Military support	Army of National Defence Serres Division Archipelago Division Crete Division Cretan Gendarmerie Allied Army of the Orient Armée d'Orient (1915–1919) Maurice Sarrail British Salonika Army Macedonian Mule Corps Democratic Battalions
Events	National Defence coup d'état National Schism Noemvriana Anathema to Venizelos French occupation of Thessaly Accession of Alexander of Greece